Lewis Banks is a Scottish saxophonist praised by The Herald for his ‘virtuosity and blinding characterisation’. No stranger to diverse and adventurous concert programming, Lewis is rapidly developing a reputation as an exciting soloist who thrives on traversing genre borders.

Winner of the Sussex Prize at the Royal Overseas League Music Competition, Lewis made his London recital debut at the Purcell Room in 2019 and regularly appears as a soloist across the UK, including recent performances on BBC Radio 3 and BBC Scotland.

Recent appearances as soloist include the music of John Williams with the RSNO, and the UK premieres of Courtney Bryan's 'Carmen Jazz Suite' in 2024 and ‘Inscriptions in Granite’ by Scottish composer Electra Perivolaris in 2023, both with the Glasgow Barons. Previously, he gave the UK premiere of the orchestral version of Santiago Baez’s L’Arlesienne Fantasy Concerto in 2020, and also appeared as concerto soloist with the Royal Scottish National Orchestra in 2016, performing Ibert’s Concertino da Camera.

Lewis is a frequent guest musician with ensembles such as The Royal Scottish National Orchestra, Ulster Orchestra, BBC Scottish Symphony Orchestra, BBC Philharmonic, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and Scottish Opera. He recently performed with the RSNO on their autumn residency (2023) in Austria, as well as their winter tour (2024) through the Netherlands and Germany.

Previously, Lewis studied at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland where he won most performance prizes, was awarded the highest attainable recital marks in both his final degree recitals and graduated with the Principal’s Prize for Excellence in 2018.

Upcoming projects include a series of recital releases on Eleven Kinds Records and a new concerto by firebrand composer and close collaborator, Jay Capperauld. He is also co-director of a brand new saxophone summer school at the RCS in Glasgow and visiting saxophone lecturer at Aberdeen University.

Photo: David Parker